Ebook: Homotopy Methods in Topological Fixed and Periodic Points Theory

The notion of a ?xed point plays a crucial role in numerous branches of mat- maticsand its applications. Informationabout the existence of such pointsis often the crucial argument in solving a problem. In particular, topological methods of ?xed point theory have been an increasing focus of interest over the last century. These topological methods of ?xed point theory are divided, roughly speaking, into two types. The ?rst type includes such as the Banach Contraction Principle where the assumptions on the space can be very mild but a small change of the map can remove the ?xed point. The second type, on the other hand, such as the Brouwer and Lefschetz Fixed Point Theorems, give the existence of a ?xed point not only for a given map but also for any its deformations. This book is an exposition of a part of the topological ?xed and periodic point theory, of this second type, based on the notions of Lefschetz and Nielsen numbers. Since both notions are homotopyinvariants, the deformationis used as an essential method, and the assertions of theorems typically state the existence of ?xed or periodic points for every map of the whole homotopy class, we refer to them as homotopy methods of the topological ?xed and periodic point theory.

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This is the first systematic and self-contained textbook on homotopy methods in the study of periodic points of a map. A modern exposition of the classical topological fixed-point theory with a complete set of all the necessary notions as well as new proofs of the Lefschetz-Hopf and Wecken theorems are included.Periodic points are studied through the use of Lefschetz numbers of iterations of a map and Nielsen-Jiang periodic numbers related to the Nielsen numbers of iterations of this map. Wecken theorem for periodic points is then discussed in the second half of the book and several results on the homotopy minimal periods are given as applications, e.g. a homotopy version of the Åarkovsky theorem, a dynamics of equivariant maps, and a relation to the topological entropy. Students and researchers in fixed point theory, dynamical systems, and algebraic topology will find this text invaluable.